Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been blessed with a triple fitness boost ahead of the Gunners' Champions League clash with Ligue 1 side Lens on Tuesday.
The Gunners travel to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis for their first top-level European fixture aiming to make it two wins from two in Group B, having started with a 4-0 thrashing of PSV Eindhoven two weeks ago.
Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard all made the net ripple against the Dutch giants, and Arteta's side won by an identical scoreline away to Bournemouth at the weekend.
Once again, Saka and Odegaard were on target alongside Kai Havertz and Ben White, as Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the new term heading into their first Champions League away game in over six-and-a-half years.
However, fitness concerns have bedevilled Arsenal over the past couple of weeks, and they left the Vitality Stadium with fresh worries over Saka and Jesus, the former of whom shook off a knock to start but limped off towards the end.
Thomas Partey has returned to full training with Arsenal this morning. 💪 pic.twitter.com/kx7zhKNNDx
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 2, 2023
Meanwhile, Arteta also revealed that Jesus also sustained an unspecified issue on the South Coast, but both players were seen in full training with the Gunners on Monday morning.
As is customary ahead of European matches, Arsenal opened up a portion of their training session to the media, and Thomas Partey was also seen taking part with the rest of the group.
The Ghana international has been sidelined for over a month with a groin injury, which he suffered before Arsenal's win over Manchester United at the start of September.
Partey was originally expected to spend a few more weeks on the sidelines, but there is now fresh hope that the former Atletico Madrid man will be part of the squad on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, Trossard was involved after shaking off a muscular issue to make the bench at Bournemouth, as was Declan Rice, who started at the Vitality despite a back concern.
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Neither Fabio Vieira nor William Saliba were able to take part against Brentford in the EFL Cup last week, but the duo were present at the weekend and also trained normally on Monday.
However, Arteta is likely to remain without Gabriel Martinelli, who is still working his way back from the hamstring injury he sustained in the Gunners' win over Everton on September 17.
The Brazilian winger was not seen in training ahead of Arsenal's flight to France, where Jurrien Timber (ACL) is a guaranteed absentee as he continues his lengthy recovery.
Lens drew 1-1 with Sevilla in their Champions League opener amid a disappointing start to the season, but Franck Haise's men - who finished second in Ligue 1 last term - have won both of their last two matches against Toulouse and Strasbourg.
Ben Knapton
